Fantasy Basketball: December's Three S's for Success

The fantasy hoops season is in full swing and you can already tell which way your team is headed. While we know who the steals of the draft were there are still plenty of guys flying under the radar—remember, it's a long season.

December's three S's for success (star, starter, & sleeper) aren't being talked about much, but they will be come 2010.

Star: David West, PF, New Orleans Hornets

It took some time for David West to adjust to a new offensive scheme, especially without Chris Paul on the floor, but it looks like he has finally regained his All-Star form and December looks to be a good month.

West's 15.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game are his is lowest since 2004-05. In recent years, West has played big minutes and that trend will continue from this point on. In his last two games he has logged 83 minutes, and in that time he scored 51 points.

Starting this month the Hornets will face the Lakers, who West averaged 22.5 and 11.3 against in four games last year. There will also be high scoring matchups against Sacramento, New York, Denver, Minnesota (twice), Toronto, and Golden State.

Anticipate West averaging a double-double for the month. He won't help your team a whole lot in terms of FG percentage, but he is stellar at the line.

Right now there are some owners regretting the selection of West in the draft, without Chris Paul they are especially low on his outlook. Trade an over-achieving mid-tier player for West and solidify your PF position for the rest of the season.

Starter: Rodney Stuckey, G, Detroit Pistons

With a minor ankle injury to Ben Gordon, the Pistons backcourt continues to thin out, which is opening the door for Stuckey to play over 40 minutes some nights. You can expect Gordon to return in early December, but he may not be at his full workload until the middle of the month.

Many were on the fence regarding Stuckey heading into the season, but he has quietly been a stellar fantasy performer. The combo-guard isn't a great assist man at 4.2 per game, but he averaged 18.1 points per game in November and 1.4 steals per game on the year, in 38 minutes per game.

While the Pistons like to slow down the pace they do face the up-tempo Nuggets, Sixers, Wizards, Rockets, Hornets, Raptors (twice), and Knicks.

Stuckey's production can fluctuate from night-to-night, but he has potential to crack the 20 PPG mark in December. Go after Stuckey if you are in need of points; his boards and assists are a bonus and he is killer at the stripe.

Lou Williams' injury creates even more of a need at the one for Philly. There is no reason the 5-12 Sixers shouldn't start developing rookie PG Jrue Holiday right now--unless they sign Allen Iverson.

A.I. is on most wires waiting to be picked up. He should have a high teens to low twenties scoring average with a handful of assists and above-average steals numbers.

It will be a while before Williams comes back and while Jrue Holiday is developing, this team needs to win games ASAP to get back into the playoff hunt. Iverson wants to save his reputation and this is a perfect fit for the Hall of Famer.